First, what you see is the heat shield, not the vehicle itself. The shield will be separated some 30km above ground, so you will never see the vehicle unless PLA deliberately want to show it.Is this a ramjet/scramjet or an unpowered glide vehicle? I don't see any air inlets on the missile. Who called this a "waverider"?
The bold texts.中国科技网北京8月3日电(阮亚奇 潘宏禄 胡利娟)3日06点41分,随着一声巨响,由中国航天科技集团有限公司第十一研究院(简称十一院)研制的星空-2火箭在西北某靶场缓缓升空,经过近10分钟飞行后,该火箭完成主动段转弯、抛罩/级间分离、试飞器释放自主飞行、弹道大机动转弯等动作,按预定弹道进入落区。此举标志着星空-2火箭飞行试验圆满成功,实现了“国内第一乘波体”的飞行壮举。
作为十一院开展的创新研发项目,星空-2火箭飞行试验任务是在集团公司的支持下,历时三年,成功自主研制的国内首款乘波体气动布局的高超声速试验飞行器。其以空气创新技术验证为目标,实现高超声速科学研究飞行平台研制与飞行试验。该试飞器集成了疏导式热防护热系统、内外力热测量系统及转捩流动测试系统等,依托航天科工四院火箭助推系统,将之投送到预定高度,并分离自主飞行,实现临近空间高炒声速滑翔飞行,完成气动力/热、分离干扰、自然转捩/人工转捩等多项科学问题数据测量。
据了解,星空-2火箭飞行试验项目创新性强,技术难度大,挑战了多项国际前沿创新技术难题:除了首次疏导式热防护技术飞行性能验证与工程应用、低空高动压高超声速抛罩分离技术外,还实现首个乘波体布局飞行器工程化,并高超声速静不稳定飞行与弹道控制。同时,首次将微涡发生器(MVG)技术应用于火箭/试飞器级间分离流动控制,完成乘波体高超飞行器大机动转弯飞行控制与制导技术等。
十一院负责人介绍说,本次飞行试验实现了飞行试验窗口科学载荷的全通道测量,全程光测、雷测、遥测正常,试飞器飞行可控、科学数据有效,完整回收。
Thank you for the clarification.First, what you see is the heat shield, not the vehicle itself. The shield will be separated some 30km above ground, so you will never see the vehicle unless PLA deliberately want to show it.
Wave-rider is the type of aero-dynamic shape of this kind of vehicle. It can be used by either a HGV (glider) or a Scramjet powered hypersonic vehicle. Saying waverider does not reveal anything. It is correctly used in this report.
I could not find the video of CCTV-13 report in #51, so I don't know what CCTV has said about it. But there is another relatively reliable report by China Science network which is owned by China Science & Technology News which is created by CAS and COSTIND, as reliable as CCTV-13 if not more. Here it is
The bold texts.
国内第一乘波体, ride wave body
抛罩, eject shield
滑翔飞行, gliding fly
I wonder about this as well. If it were just a regular HGV like DF-ZF then it would certainly not be China's first domestic "waverider". Perhaps the glider is shaped differently? Either that or the vehicle was powered.It is interesting that it is reported as "the first (within China) wave rider flight". This makes me wonder what was the so-called DF-ZF aka WU-14 which was supposed to have been tested many times for years.
China has reportedly conducted the maiden flight of a new hypersonic test vehicle, achieving speeds of Mach 5.5 for over six minutes, and reaching Mach 6.
The test of the unmanned system, designated Starry Sky 2, took place recently in Northwestern China, reports the official China Daily newspaper.
During the flight the vehicle reached an altitude of 30km and undertook several maneuvers.
The wedge-shaped vehicle was initially lifted by a solid propellant rocket, before detaching and performing its flight. China Daily reports that the aircraft is a “waverider,” using its own shock waves to generate lift.
The newspaper adds that this is the first time Beijing has revealed an interest in waverider technology. The vehicle was developed by the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics.
Beijing has long been interested in developing hypersonic technologies. Russia and the USA are also pursuing the technology, primarily for powering high-speed missiles.
In April, US Air Force secretary Heather Wilson said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the USAF is pursuing two hypersonic weapons prototyping programmes simultaneously: a hypersonic conventional strike weapon, or HCSW, which was contracted to Lockheed Martin Space on 18 April; and an air-launch rapid response weapon, or ARRW, which has not been contracted.
If the medias did say so, it is a spin in favor of X-51A.From what I've read, supposedly waveriders use the hypersonic pulse "waves" created by the engine to add lift to the vehicle. I remember when it was first reported of China's successful hypersonic tests, the US was making that distinction. Of course the media will spin that means China doesn't have one developing hence the US is ahead as in the X-51A.